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Nue


Nue (鵺, 鵼, 恠鳥, or 奴延鳥) is a legendary Japanese yōkai or mononoke.

Appearing in the Heike Monogatari, it has the face of a monkey, the legs of a tiger , the body of a Japanese Raccoon Dog and the front half of a snake for a tail. According to which writing it is, sometimes nothing is stated about its torso, or is sometimes depicted to have the torso of a tiger. Also, there are documents such as the Genpei Jōsuiki that state that it has the back of a tiger, the legs of a tanuki, and the tail of a fox, and furthermore the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken. Due to its appearance, it is sometimes referred to as a Japanese chimera.

Concerning how it appears when it is depicted visually, there is also the thought that it is a combination of the animals in the Sexagenary cycle, with a northeast Tiger, a southeast Snake, a southwest Monkey, and a northwest Qian (dog and wild boar).

It is stated to make terribly eerie bird cry "hyoo hyoo" noises that resemble that of the scaly thrush bird. In the movie Akuryōtō (originally by Seishi Yokomizo), the catchphrase "nights where the nue cry are dreadful" refers to this fact.

The nue is thought to have started appearing in the late Heian period, but as for when in the Heian period, there are several theories depending on the writing, like in the Emperor Nijō period, the Emperor Konoe period, the Emperor Go-Shirakawa period, the Emperor Toba period, among other theories.


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